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Pope Julius II (reigned 1503–1513), commissioned a series of highly influential art and architecture projects in the Vatican. The painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo and of various rooms by Raphael in the Apostolic Palace are considered among the masterworks that mark the High Renaissance in Rome. His decision to rebuild St Peter's led to the construction of the present basilica.
Julius died in 1513, and except for the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which he lived to see finished, his very largest commissions were finished after his death.